Impinj's UHF RFID Series Tag Chips | M700 Series vs. M800 Series

Four years after launching the  M700 series, Impinj is launching a new and improved tag chip series, the Impinj M800 series RAIN RFID tag chips. This new series will build on the success of the M700 series with improvements such as increased response speed, distance, and reliability and are drop-in compatible with M700 antenna designs, decreasing the time to go-to-market. Let’s jump straight into the details about the M800, what you can expect from this new series, and the major differences between the M800 and the M700.

Checkout the timeline below to see Impinj's releases from the Monza R6 to the new, M800 series.

Impinj’s M700 Series Tag Chips

The Impinj M700 chipset series was released in 2019 and two iterations were available to put in antenna designs in early 2020: the Impinj M730 and M750. Later the Impinj M770 and the M775 tag chips were introduced, followed by the Impinj M780 and the M781 in late 2022.

There are a few key features that were introduced with the release of the Impinj M700 series in addition to the increase in sensitivity (from -22.6 dB in the R6-P to -24 dB or -23.5 dB for the M700 series). One major addition was the introduction of Impinj Core 3D antenna reference designs, that allows these chips omnidirectional reading without a second antenna or  dual dipole design. The second was Impinj Protect Mode which enables loss prevention, embedded tagging, and seamless product returns through creating an invisibility mode that can be turned off or on.

The Impinj M730 and M750 are the basic, core chips in the series, but in 2022 the M770 and M775 were released with the additional feature of Impinj Unkillable Mode, which prevents accidental killing of a tag. In addition, the Impinj M775 has the GS1 EPCglobal Gen2v2 Authenticate feature, which adds cryptographic authentication in order to reduce counterfeit goods.

In late 2022, the Impinj M780 and M781 tag chips were released which bring high-memory capabilities to the M700 series. The Impinj M780 and M781 have all the features available in the previous M700 chips, except the GS1 EPC global G2v2 Authenticate feature of the M775. In addition to those features, the Impinj M780 and M781 have version 2 of the Impinj Enduro™ bonding pads, which further strengthens bonding between the tag chip and antenna.

Take a look at the chart below for a better look at all the key features available on the M700 chipsets and then compare specifications between the chips.

Impinj M700 Series - Available Tag Chips

Currently, there are six chipsets available and all six can be purchased within multiple finished RFID tags. The Impinj M700 series consists of the M730, M750, M770, M775, M780, and M781 tag chips.

Impinj M700 Series - Available RFID Tags

Most RFID tag manufacturers have tags available with the Impinj M730 and M750 tag chips, such as Vulcan RFID, SIVA, HID, Omni-ID, Beontag, Avery Dennison, and Confidex. Recently, tag manufacturers have started releasing RFID tags with the high memory additions - the Impinj M780 and M781 tag chips. Currently the following manufacturers have Impinj M780 and M781 UHF RFID tags for sale:

• Beontag – Buhrer, E702, A701, H703
• SIVA – Quadwave
• Confidex – Ironside Slim, Ironside Classic, Ironside Micro, Ferrowave Micro, Crosswave Neo, Survivor, Steelwave Micro II, Steelwave Classic M780
• Avery Dennison – TracX, Midas Flagtag, Miniweb

Contact us for more information about these RFID tags!

Impinj’s M800 Series Tag Chips

Released in mid-July, Impinj’s M800 chip series builds on the new features of the M700 series while increasing sensitivity, lowering power consumption, increasing efficiency in production, and decreasing go-to-market time. Impinj sums up the advancements of the Impinj M800 in three key groups.

1. Improved Tag Readability
The M800 series enhances the reliable reading of small tags at a high volume and speed. This is accomplished in four ways:
• Increasing tag sensitivity of -25.5 dBM (+1.5 dB improvement)
• Lowering power consumption (30% less)
• Creating a wider tuning range with their AutoTune feature (V3, version 3)
• Tighter radio-frequency stability.
2. Enhanced Tag Readability & Manufacturability
The Impinj M800 series of chips have a new shape that was created to eliminate stress points such as the chips corners, improving manufacturability. In addition, they have new Impinj Enhanced Enduro (V2) antenna pads which increase the bondable surface area, improving the chip-to-antenna connection. Because the chips have a new, smaller shape, more chips can fit on a wafer, making chip production more efficient.

One key goal from Impinj with the release of the M800 series was to decrease the go-to-market time for these chips. Instead of releasing the chip and then waiting months before the consumer can get a finished tag in hand, Impinj has worked with tag manufacturers like Tageos, Beontag, and Avery Dennison to change that. Impinj made sure that the new M800 series is drop-in compatible with all tag antennas that currently contain any M700 series tag chip. This means that tag manufacturers do not have to reconfigure current tag antennas to fit the new chip, ensuring users are able to get RFID tags with the Impinj M800 much faster than ever before.

3. Advanced Features
The features available on the Impinj M800 series are similar to those of the M700 series – with a couple of advancements. The two features that were improved upon were the AutoTune feature – from version 2 to version 3, allowing better readability, and the Impinj Enhanced Enduro Antenna Pads – version 1 to version 2, providing more surface area for bonding.

Impinj M800 Series – Available Tag Chips

Currently, there are two tag chips available, the Impinj M830 and the M850, and the only difference is the memory allocation. The Impinj M830 has all the available memory (128 bits) in the EPC memory bank, while the M850 divides the memory up, with the EPC memory having 96 bits and the User memory having 32 bits.

Impinj M800 Series - Available RFID Tags

The following manufacturers have just announced RFID tags featuring the M800 chipset and will likely have tags ready toward the end of 2023.

• Tageos – EOS-241 and the EOS-261 will both be available with the M830 and M850 chips (read the announcement here)
• Beontag – Falcon M800, Pacer M800, Swift M800, Setter M800 (read the announcement here)
• Avery Dennison –TBA (read the announcement here)

For more information about Impinj’s M800 series,  contact us via phone, email, or chat!